Five

It’s so hard for me to believe that you are five years old.  It seems as if it were yesterday that we were on our way to the hospital in anticipation of your arrival, with a mix of excitement and nervousness (since you were making an early debut).  We immediately fell in love with you and have continued to love you with all of our beings over these last five years.

Riley, you are the most precious and endearing daughter and I feel so blessed having you to call my own.  Your personality is full of life, and your spirit is infectious.

You have the most creative imagination and love to re-enact anything you experience (waitress, haircut, grocery store clerk, etc).  While you like to spend the majority of your day role playing, your most favorite thing to do is “play school”.  You’ve become quite the experienced teacher, and we love to spend time under your bossy care!

Lately you’ve developed this cute little habit of hair twirling, mostly when you’re nervous or feeling restless.

 

You have a love for books and music.  Our bedtime routine consists of lots of books and reading Bible stories, and it’s become a favorite time of day for us.  You received a karaoke machine for your birthday and you have spent a lot of time singing and dancing lately.  The karaoke microphone has become quite the accessory for you when playing school too! 

You’ve conquered school and have made us so proud.  You are quick to jump out of the car in the morning, and you love your new school (although you tell us computer is boring!). 

You talk a lot.  On a recent car ride with your granny and me, you spent the entire ride hypothesizing and talking non-stop!  We giggled from the front seat listening to your grown up thoughts.

You sometimes think you are the boss in the family and have gotten quite sassy.  Although it’s not fun to have to deal with, we do know that this is a part of growing up and is (hopefully) just a short season.

You still love your brother and often times want to mother him.  It make us so happy to watch the two of you together and we look forward to watching that relationship continue to blossom throughout the years to come.

Riley, we love you to the moon and back!!  We look forward to seeing what God has in store for your sweet life.

 

*The above pictures were taken on 9/30, exactly one month after turning five.  Riley has developed a new love for curly hair, so she slept in rollers the night before.*